Dust cover for garment hanger



Jan. 25, 1966 H. J. TAFF 3,231,159

DUST COVER FOR GARMENT HANGER Filed March 11, 1963 4 sheets-sheet 1 1966 H. J. TAFF DUST COVER FOR GARMENT HANGER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 11, 1963 Jan. 25, 1966 J, TAFF 3,231,159

DUST COVER FOR GARMENT HANGER Filed March 11, 1965 4 ShBQt-S-Shfit 5 Fl 6.9. J3 I INVENTOR: HARRY d. TAFF BY UM IM- mrvs Jan. 25, 1966 J, TAFF DUST COVER FOR GARMENT HANGER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 11,. 1963 1/ BY a? a United States Patent 3,231,159 DUST COVER FOR GARMENT HANGER Harry J. Taft, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Kwik-Koyer Manufacturing Company, Chicago, ML, a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 264,314 8 Claims. (Cl. 223-98) This application is a continuation--in-part of applications Serial Nos. 776,458, filed November 26, 1958, and 43,103, filediuly 15, 1960, both now abandoned.

This invention relates to covers for hanger-suspended garments and most especially to inexpensive paper covers frequently applied by dry cleaning establishments over the upper extremeties of dresses, suit coats and the like to protect them from the accumulation of dust on the upwardly facing surfaces of these garments. Their function, however, has frequently been to carry printed matter advertising the name of the dry cleaner involved and their design from a dust covering viewpoint has heretofore left much to be desired. They are generally short, open-bottom triangular-shaped paper hoods having hanger-receiving openings in the tops thereof for enabling them to be slipped over the hooked necks of conventional wire rod hangers supporting the dry cleaned garments involved. The hanger-receiving openings, however, were wide circular or oval openings which impaired the dust protecting qualities of the covers by providing large enterways for settling dust at the base of the hanger necks.

In .accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a hanger-receiving opening is formed at the top of a tri' angular-shaped paper cover by a pair of intersection slits cut in the paper cover body, the slits extending a relatively short distance from an apex or point of the cover body along oppositely sloping fold lines formed between panels constituting the front and rear walls of the cover. The slits together form an over-all narrow slit opening of sufficient length to accommodate the hooked neck of conventional garment hangers so that the cover can be prefabricat'ed and readily placed over or completely removed from the garment-carrying hanger while maintaining its dust covering qualities. The flexibility of the paper from which the cover is made enables the slit-formed hanger-receiving opening to be expanded readily to receive a wider wire rod hanger neck. The slit-formed hanger-receiving opening is thus normally of almost negligible width, to inhibit the entry of dust into the cover.

In one form of the invention, the slits on opposite sides of the apex of the cover are of equal length. In another form of the invention the slits are of unequal length, one

being preferably only slightly longer than the width of the largest hanger rod material used to make conventional wire rod hangers and the other having a length in the neighborhood of the width of the hooked portion of the hanger neck of such hangers. This form of the invention can withstandrough handling without tearing better than the equal length slit embodiment of the invention.

In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, at least one of the slits, most advantageously the longer slit in the unequal slit embodiment of the invention, is provided with a foldable flap for covering the associated slit. The flap is readily accessible from outside the dust cover where the hanger neck-receiving opening formed by said slitsmay be readily opened and closed.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon making reference to the specification to follow, the claims and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a side elevation of a dust cover construoted in accordance with the present invention;

1 FIG. 2 is a view looking down upon the dust cover shownin FIG. 2, as seen along line 2-2 therein;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the unfolded paper blankfrom which the dust cover of FIGS. 1 and 2 is made;

FIG. 4 is a side elevationalview of a modified and preferred form of dust cover constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view looking down upon the dust cover of FIG. 4, as seen along line 55 the-rein;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an unfolded paper blank from which the dust cover of FIGS. 4 and 5 is made;

FIG. 7 shows in solid lines .a side elevation of another form of dust cover of the invention positioned over a hanger suspended garment, and in dashed lines the same dust cover in position to initially be passed over the top of the hanger;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged transverse section, taken substantially along the line 38 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the unfolded paper blank from which the dust cover of FIG. 7 is made;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a completed dust cover made with the blank of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the dust cover of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sideelevational View of still another form of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a view corresponding to FIG. 12 with one of the panels of the cover removed;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cover of FIG. 12 applied over a garment-supporting hanger; and

FIG. 15 is a sectional view through FIG. 14, taken substantially along the linel-IS therein.

Referring now to FIG. 1 to 2, a dust cover generally indicated by reference numeral 2 is applied around the upper portion of a garment 4suspended from a con ventional wire-rod hanger 6 having the usual hooked neck 8 and upwardly inclined and converging upper margins 9- 9. As illustrated most clearly in FIG. 1, both sides of the dust cover extend from apex points 1t) to points slightly beyond the side extermeties of the garment 4. A hanger hook-receiving opening 12 of very narrow extent through which the hanger neck passes is provided at the apex Iii of the cover, the opening being formed by short slits 13-13 intersecting at the apex Ill. The opening 12 has an over-all length at least equal to the horizontal width of the hooked neck 8 and preferably, slightly in excess. The slits 13-13 leave only a very narrow space through which dust may gain entry into the cover, and even this space may be permanently closed by application of strips 14-14 of adhesive tape across the top of the cover on opposite sides of the hanger neck after the cover is slipped in place over the hangersuspended garment. The adhesive strips hold the paper edges defining the slits 1313 in abutment or close proximity around the hanger neck.

The dust cover is constructed preferably from a single piece paper blank, as shown in FIG. 3. In accordance with a broader aspect of the invention, the cover could be constructed from more than one piece of paper, although this is decidedly not a preferred form of the invention. The cover illustrated has one side formed by a panel 15 having oppositely sloping upper margins seas meeting at the apex 10. The panel margins terminate in vertical side edges 20-2il which join a straight horizontal bottom edge 22.

The other side of the cover is formed by a pair of complementary flap-forming panels 2424 respectively joined to said oppositely sloping upper margins of the panel 15 along fold lines substantially coextensive therewith. The aforesaid slits 1313 are cut along the upper ends of the fold lines, which hereafter will be referred to by thesame reference numerals 1616 as the panel margins of the same number with which they correspond, The panel 15 forms what is sometimes referred to as a first wall of the cover and panels 24-24 together form what is sometimes referred to as a second wall of the cover.

Each of the panels 24 has a short edge 30 which, in the completed cover (FIGS. l-2), falls adjacent or along the sloping margin 16 of the panel 15 from which it does not extend. Viewing the cover in its assembled condition, the edge 30 of each panel 24 joins a relatively downwardly and outwardly inclining long edge 32 thereof extending at right angles thereto, the long panel edge 32. and the corresponding fold line 16 diverging in a downward direction. The panel edge 32 terminates in the vicinity of the horizontal bottom edge 22 of panel 15. Each panel 24 further has an upwardly and outwardly inclining edge 34 extending between the outer end of the corresponding fold line 16 and the bottom end of the long edge 32. The panels 2424 are in overlapping relation and secured together by any suitable means, such as by a spot 36 of cement.

The sides of the cover 2 extend all the way to the apex of the cover, and thus, except for the very narrow hanger-receiving opening 12 formed by the slits 13-13, the upper portions of the garment 4 are shielded from falling dust.

The paper blank shown in FIG. 3 from which the dust cover 2 is made may be an elongated rectangular piece of paper containing a short vertical slit formed midway in one of the longitudinal margins of the blank, the slit forming the edges 30-30 of the panels 2424. The slits 13-13 extend from the inner end of the latter slit along the margins 16-46 of the panel 15. The various portions of the blank as shown in FIG. 3 have been numbered corresponding to the portions of the cover which they form.

Refer now to the most preferred form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6. The cover 2 illustrated therein differs from the cover 2 just described primarily in the shapes of the panels 24 -24 corresponding to the flap-forming panels 24-24 in FIGS. 1-3. The corresponding portions of the covers 2 and 2 have been similarly numbered except that a prime has been added to the reference numerals in FIGS. 4-6. The panels 24'-24 together form a cover side which is substantialy coextensive with the cover side formed by a main panel 15 corresponding to panel 15 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. In contrast to this, panels 2424 of cover 2 extend opposite a much smaller portion of panel 15. Each of the panels 2 4- extends along the entire length of the corresponding upper sloping margin 16 of the panel 15, and is joined thereto along a fold line substantially coextensive with the margin 16. The fold line terminates at the end of a slit 13 falling along the latter margin 16 and terminating at an apex 10. As in the previously described embodiment, the slits 13'-13 intersect to form together a hanger hook-receiving opening 12 of very narrow extent and of a width slightly in excess of the width of the hanger hook with which it is used.

In the completed cover 2, each of the flap-forming panels 24' has a short edge 30 which falls adjacent or along the upper sloping margins 16 from which it does not extend. Each of the edges 30 joins a relatively long vertical edge 32 which extends to the lower region of the cover. In the embodiment illustrated, the bottom end of the vertical edge 32 joins a short inclined edge 32 which meets a horizontal bottom edge 34 falling opposite the horizontal bottom edge 22 of main panel 15'. The bottom edge 34 joins a short upper and outwardly inclining edge 34 terminating at the end of the sloping fold line or margin 16. The flap-forming panels 2424 are positioned in overlapping relation and secured together in any suitable manner, as by a spot 36 of cement.

As with the opening 12 in cover 2, the hanger-receiving opening 12 can be substantially completely closed even when receiving the hanger neck by means of adhesive strips 14'14' applied around the top of the cover on opposite sides of the apex 10.

The dust cover 2 is made from an elongated rectangular paper blank in which the corresponding corners at the ends of one of the longitudinal sides of the blank have been folded over or cut away as illustrated in FIG. 6, to form the edges 34"34. Midway between the said longitudinal sides, a triangular portion 42 is cut away to form inwardly converging edges 32-32. A short slit parallel to the short sides of the blank is made extending from the apex of the triangular cut away portion to form the edges 30'30, the inner end of the latter slit intersecting slits 1313 diverging outwardly along the sides of a triangle outlining the margin of main panel 15. Fold lines 1616 are formed to define the bounds of main panel 15 and flapforrning panels 24'24. The cover 2 is constructed from the blank by folding the resultant panels 24-24' along the fold lines 16-16 and by cementing together the resultant overlapping portions of the panels 24-24' by a spot of cement 36.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 7 and 8, a modified dust cover generally indicated by reference numeral 162 is shown applied around the upper portion of a garment 1% suspended from a conventional wire-rod hanger 6 having the usual hooked neck 8. Both sides of the dust cover extend from apex point to points slightly beyond the side extremeties of the garment 4. A hanger hook-receiving opening 112 through which the hanger neck passes is provided at the apex 110 of the cover, the opening being formed by converging slits 113-113 intersecting at the apex 110. Slit 113 is a relatively long slit on one side of the apex 110 and has a length in the neighborhood of the width of the hanger neck 8. Slit 113 is a short slit having a length slightly in excess of the thickness of the hanger neck. The slits 113-113 leave only a very narrow space through which dust may gain entry into the cover.

An important aspect of the invention is the provision of a narrow folding flap 114 extending from the apex 116 along the long slit 113. The flap 114 covers the slit 113 in its folded position and uncovers the slit in its unfolded position. The hanger neck passes through the short narrow slit 113' with a tight fit so that little or no space is left for entry of dust around the hanger neck.

The dust cover is constructed preferably from a generally rectangular single piece paper blank as shown in FIG. 9. The cover illustrated has one side formed by a panel 115 having oppositely sloping upper margins 116- 116' meeting at the apex 110. The panel margins terminate in vertical side edges 120-120 which join a straight horizontal bottom edge 122.

The other side of the cover is formed by a pair of com-' plementary flap-forming panels 124-124 respectively joined to said oppositely sloping upper margins 116-116 of the panel 115 along fold lines substantially coextensive therewith. The aforesaid slits 113-113 are out along the upper ends of the fold lines, which hereafter will be referred to by the same reference numerals 116- 116 as the panel margins of the same number. panels 124-124 have aligned straight outer edges 126- 126' which are parallel to the bottom blank edge 122. The panels 124-124 are separated by an off-centered arcuate slit 130 having an inner end joining the apex 110 tangentially of the slit 113 and an outer end intersecting the edge of the blank. A short fold line 131 is formed in the Wider panel 124' extending between the apex 110 and the adjacent panel edge 126 and positioned to fall along the sloping margin of the fold line 116 when the panel 124'. is folded along the fold line 116 into con- The fronting relation with panel 115. In the fabrication of the dust cover from the blank, the panel 124 is folded first along its fold line 116 so that, upon subsequent folding oftthe other panel 124, the portion of panel 124 between the short fold line 131 and the arcuate slit 130 is on the outside of the cover where it forms the aforesaid flap 114. Folding of the flap 114 along fold line 131 will cover over the long hanger neck-receiving slit 113. The folded panels 124-124 which are in overlapped relation are securedtogether by any suitable means such as by a spot of adhesive 132.

The panels 124-124 have straight side edges 134-134 which incline downwardly and inwardly when the panels are folded. The corners of the panels 124-124 are cut away along but lines 135-135 so that the bottom ends of the folded panels 124-124 are aligned with the bottom cover edge 122.

The sides of the completed cover .162 extend all the way to the apex 110, and thus, except for the very short, narrow slit 113', the upper portions of the garment 1% are completely shielded from falling dust. The flap 114 forms an exceedingly simple and effective means for readily covering the long slit which provided the large hanger neck-receiving opening to facilitate the application of the dust cover over the neck of the garment hanger d.

Although the flap 114 is an important specific aspect of the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7-11, in accordance with a broader aspect of the invention, the flap could be omitted leaving the cover with long and narrow slits 113-113 which provide only a limited space for entry of dust. The use of one long slit 113 in the cover 102 as the main entryway for the hanger neck has a strength advantage over the equal length slits 113-113 of the other covers 102 and 102 in that the cover 162 can be subjected to rougher handling without tearing.

Reference should now be made to FIGS. 12 through 15 disclosing a still further modified garment cover 202, which is the most preferred form of the invention. In this form of the invention, the garment cover is made from two initially separate, generally triangular panels 224 and 224 of paper which are secured together by adhesive 225 along the oppositely sloping upper margins 216-216 thereof. The adhesive 22-5 is applied on one side of the cover up to a point spaced slightly from the apex 210 thereof so that a short slit 213 is left on one side of the apex to accommodate the thickness of the hanger neck when the cover is applied over the hanger thus as shown in FIG. 13. The adhesive 225 on the other side of the apex terminates a substantial distance from the apex of the cover to form a long slit 213 joining the slit 213 at the apex 210, this distance being such that the combined length of the slits 213-213 will allow passage of the hanger neck readily therethrough.

The advantage of the cover shown in FIGS. 12 through 15 is that it can be made more economically in a continuous line mass production operation which automatically severs the trianglar-shaped panels 224 and 224 from a continuous strip of material and, at almost the same time, places a pair of the panels into confronting re lation and then adhesively secures the two panel pairs together. The flap 14 shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 through 11 has been omitted from the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 12 through 15 for the reason that this most economical method of manufacture does not lend itself to the use of the flap 14. However, the provision of the narrow slit-formed opening at the top of the garment cover 202 does'an exceptionally good job of reducing to an insignificant level the entry of dust into the top of the cover. The provision of a flap 14 would, however, substantially completel block off all dust from gaining entry to the cover and, except for economic reasons, would be used in the cover 262.

It should be understood that numerous modifications may be made in the preferred form of the invention described above without deviating from the broader aspects of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination with a triangular-shaped garmentsupporting hanger having upwardly inclined and converging upper margins and a hooked neck extending upwardly at the top thereof, a short, open-bottom dust cover adapted to cover the upper portion of a garment on said hanger, one side of the cover comprising a first panel having oppositely sloping upper margins overlying said inclined upper margins of said hanger and meeting at an apex, the other side of the cover comprising a pair of flap-forming panels extending respectively from said oppositely sloping margins of said first panel and folded into confronting relation with said first panel, means for permanently securing said overlapping flap-forming panels together in confronting relation, said pair of flap-forming panels extending to and overlapping one another at the apex of said first panel, and said cover having intersecting slits formed between the juncture of each of said flapforming panels and said first panel, the slits extending from said apex a relatively short distance along said oppositely sloping margins of said first panel to form an opening of very narrow extent receiving said hooked neck, and said opening having an over-all length at least equal to the horizontal width of said hooked neck.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said dust cover is formed from a single piece folded blank of flexible sheet material, said blank being provided with a third slit intersecting said pair of slits at said apex and separating said flap-forming panels.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said blank is an elongated rectangular blank having short and long sides where the upper sioping margins of the cover intersect the short sides of the blank and said third slit intersects a long side of the blank.

4. A short, open-bottom garment dust cover to be inserted over the top of a garment suspended on a wire rod hanger having a hooked neck, said cover comprising: confronting panels of flexible sheet material joined along the top of the cover, the top of the cover comprising two oppositely sloping marginal portions meeting at an apex at the center and top of the cover, said cover having a pair of slits extending from said apex along both of said oppositely sloping marginal portions of the cover to form a hanger hook-receiving opening of very narrow extent, one of said slits having a length in the neighborhood of the width of said hooked hanger neck and the other of said siits having a relatively small length in the neighborhood of the thickness of the base of said hanger neck, and a folded flap extending from one of said panels adjacent said relatively long slit which flap covers said relatively long slit to prevent entry of dust into the dust cover and in its unfolded position exposes said slit to permit passage of said hanger neck therethrough.

5. In combination with a triangular-shaped garmentsupporting hanger having upwardly inclined and converging upper margins and a hooked neck extending upwardly at the top thereof, a short, open-bottom dust cover adapted to cover the upper portion of a garment on said hanger, one side of the cover comprising a first wall having oppositely sloping upper margins overlying said inclined upper margins of said hanger and meeting at an apex, the other side of the cover comprising a second wall extending respectively from said oppositely sloping margins of said first Wall and being in confronting relation with said first wall and permanently secured to said first wall along said upper margins thereof, said second wall. extending to the apex of said first wall, and said cover having intersecting slits formed between the juncture of said first and second walls, the slits extending from said apex a relatively short distance along said oppositely sloping margins of said first and second walls to form an opening of very narrow extent receiving said hooked neck, and said slit formed opening having an over-all length at least equal to the horizontal width of said hooked neck.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein each of said two intersecting slits are in the neighborhood of one-half the width of said hooked neck.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein one of said slits is a straight slit formed between the juncture of said first and second walls and extends from said apex a distance in the neighborhood of the width of the hooked neck of said hanger, and the other slit is a straight slit formed between the juncture of said first and second walls and extends from said apex where it meets said one slit, and said other slit being more shorter than said one slit to accommodate only the thickness of said hanger.

8. In combination with a triangular-shaped garmentsupporting hanger having upwardly inclined and converging upper margins and a hooked neck extending upwardly at the top thereof, a short, open-bottom dust cover adapted to cover the upper portion of a garment on said hanger, one side of the cover comprising a first wall having oppositely sloping upper margins overlying said inclined upper margins of said hanger and meeting at an apex, the other side of the cover comprising a second wall extending respectively from said oppositely sloping margins of said first wall and being in confronting relation with said first wall and permanently secured to said first wall along said margins, said second Wall extending to the apex of said first wall, each of said first and second walls being a single generally triangularly shaped panel of sheet material, and said cover having intersecting slits formed between the juncture of said first and second Walls, the slits extending from said apex at relatively short distance along said oppositely sloping margins of said first wall to form an opening of very narrow extent receiving said hooked neck and said slit formed opening :having an over-all length at least equal to the horizontal width of said hooked neck.

References Cited by the Examiner UNETED STATES PATENTS 2,135,277 11/1938 Coney 223 9s 2,172,206 9/1939 Katz 223-98 2,287,912 6/1942 Laurent 206-7 2,361,799 10/1944 Stone 22398 2,838,218 6/1958 Grigsby 223 9s 3,001,675 9/l961 Aynes et al. 22388 3,033,430 5/1962 Zintel 223 9s JORDAN FRANKLEN, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A TRIANGULAR-SHAPED GARMENTSUPPORTING HANGER HAVING UPWARDLY INCLINED AND CONVERGING UPPER MARGINS AND A HOOKED NECK EXTENDING UPWARDLY AT THE TOP THEREOF, A SHORT, OPEN-BOTTOM DUST COVER ADAPTED TO COVER THE UPPER PORTION OF A GARMENT ON SAID HANGER, ONE SIDE OF THE COVER COMPRISING A FIRST PANEL HAVING OPPOSITELY SLOPING UPPER MARGINS OVERLYING SAID INCLINED UPPER MARGINS OF SAID HANGER AND MEETING AT AN APEX, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COVER COMPRISING A PAIR OF FLAP-FORMING PANELS EXTENDING RESPECTIVELY FROM SAID OPPOSITELY SLOPING MARGINS OF SAID FIRST PANEL AND FOLDED IN COMFRONTING RELATION WITH SAID FIRST PANEL, MEANS FOR PERMANENTLY SECURING SAID OVERLAPPING FLAP-FORMING PANELS TOGETHER IN CONFRONTING RELATION, SAID PAIR OF FLAP-FORMING PANELS EXTENDING TO AND OVERLAPPING ONE ANOTHER AT THE APEX OF SAID FIRST PANEL, AND SAID COVER HAVING INTERSECTING SLITS FORMED BETWEEN THE JUNCTURE OF EACH OF SAID FLAPFORMING PANELS OF SAID FIRST PANEL, THE SLITS EXTENDING FROM SAID APEX A RELATIVELY SHORT DISTANCE ALONG SAID OPPOSITELY SLOPING MARGINS OF SAID FIRST PANEL TO FORM AN OPENING OF VERY NARROW EXTENT RECEIVING SAID HOOKED NECK, AND SAID OPENING HAVING AN OVER-ALL LENGTH AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE HORIZONTAL WIDTH OF SAID HOOKIED NECK. 